CA1043367A - Horizontal platen belt transport - Google Patents
Horizontal platen belt transportInfo
- Publication number
- CA1043367A CA1043367A CA238,709A CA238709A CA1043367A CA 1043367 A CA1043367 A CA 1043367A CA 238709 A CA238709 A CA 238709A CA 1043367 A CA1043367 A CA 1043367A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- belt
- sheet
- tabs
- platen
- document
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
- B65H29/02—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by mechanical grippers engaging the leading edge only of the articles
- B65H29/04—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by mechanical grippers engaging the leading edge only of the articles the grippers being carried by endless chains or bands
- B65H29/045—Details of grippers
- B65H29/048—Self-opening and -closing grippers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
- B65H29/16—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by contact of one face only with moving tapes, bands, or chains
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2404/00—Parts for transporting or guiding the handled material
- B65H2404/20—Belts
- B65H2404/23—Belts with auxiliary handling means
- B65H2404/231—Belts with auxiliary handling means pocket or gripper type
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2404/00—Parts for transporting or guiding the handled material
- B65H2404/20—Belts
- B65H2404/23—Belts with auxiliary handling means
- B65H2404/232—Blade, plate, finger
Abstract
HORIZONTAL PLATEN BELT TRANSPORT
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Sheet handling apparatus including a movable endless belt having a plurality of flexible tabs formed thereon adapted for deskewing and registering the lead edge of a sheet presented thereto, the tabs thereafter being deformed into contact with the lead edge of the sheet to grip the sheet for subsequent conveyance thereof.
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Sheet handling apparatus including a movable endless belt having a plurality of flexible tabs formed thereon adapted for deskewing and registering the lead edge of a sheet presented thereto, the tabs thereafter being deformed into contact with the lead edge of the sheet to grip the sheet for subsequent conveyance thereof.
Description
~043367 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The development of high speed electrostatic reproduction machines has brought about the need for simple, yet reliable means for registering and conveying sheets or documents through the reproduction machine. This is especially true in the case of automatic document handlers wherein the document to be copied must be rapidly and carefully presented to the platen of the copy maehine in proper registration and then removed therefrom. In electrostatic machines such as the xerographic type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 3,674,363 to Bayler et al, the documents to be reproduced are placed in an automatic document handler which sequentially feeds documents to the platen of the machine. After exposure, the device removes the copied documents and feeds the succeeding document to the platen for eopying. Dependable apparatus for earrying out this function of plaeing documents on the seanning platen eonstitutes eonvenienee to an operator who would otherwise have to manually ehange the doeument and, at the same time, inereases the effieieney of the eleetrostatic reproduetion system by permitting more copies to be made in a given time.
Generally speaking, sheet feeding devices for transporting sheets or doeuments singly from a stack to a work station are known in the art. However, known sheet feeding devices are inadequate for dependably keeping paee with the great speed at which electrostatie maehines now operate. When deviees for singly advancing sheets from a stack are designed to operate at higher speeds, a great number of problems are encountered in attempting to deskew, register, and convey the sheet to a precise position at a work station such as the platen of the reproduction maehine.
The development of high speed electrostatic reproduction machines has brought about the need for simple, yet reliable means for registering and conveying sheets or documents through the reproduction machine. This is especially true in the case of automatic document handlers wherein the document to be copied must be rapidly and carefully presented to the platen of the copy maehine in proper registration and then removed therefrom. In electrostatic machines such as the xerographic type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 3,674,363 to Bayler et al, the documents to be reproduced are placed in an automatic document handler which sequentially feeds documents to the platen of the machine. After exposure, the device removes the copied documents and feeds the succeeding document to the platen for eopying. Dependable apparatus for earrying out this function of plaeing documents on the seanning platen eonstitutes eonvenienee to an operator who would otherwise have to manually ehange the doeument and, at the same time, inereases the effieieney of the eleetrostatic reproduetion system by permitting more copies to be made in a given time.
Generally speaking, sheet feeding devices for transporting sheets or doeuments singly from a stack to a work station are known in the art. However, known sheet feeding devices are inadequate for dependably keeping paee with the great speed at which electrostatie maehines now operate. When deviees for singly advancing sheets from a stack are designed to operate at higher speeds, a great number of problems are encountered in attempting to deskew, register, and convey the sheet to a precise position at a work station such as the platen of the reproduction maehine.
-2-1t)433f~7 A number of devices have been utilized in the past to properly locate a document on the platen of a copy macnine.
For example, in U.S. Patent 3,790,158 there is disclosed a mechanism wherein the document is fed in a forward direction onto the platen of a copy machine and thereafter reversed against a registration edge to deskew and register the document.
Problems may be encountered in the mechanism required to move the registration edge into and out of the document path or the sensors actuating the mechanism. Further, in positively driving the document against the registration edge while it is firmly pressed between the transport belt and the platen, the amount of deskewing that can be accomplished may be insufficient due to the frictional engagement between the document and the transport belt. Another type of locating system that has been utilized in the past is disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Patent No. 3,674,363 wherein the passage of the document past a certain point in the document path actuates a switch, which, in conjunction with the time delay, inactivates the document transport mechanism when the document is in the desired position on the platen.
Another method to present documents to the platen of a copy machine would be through the use of mechanical type gripper bars which would be employed to grip the leading edge of a document and thereafter positively transport the document to the proper location on the platen. However, ordinary grippers of necessity include a number of precision mechanical elements adapted for opening and closing the gripper fingers and moving the gripper bars through the desired path.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a sheet handling mechanism for deskewing, registering and transporting individual sheets of material comprising:
For example, in U.S. Patent 3,790,158 there is disclosed a mechanism wherein the document is fed in a forward direction onto the platen of a copy machine and thereafter reversed against a registration edge to deskew and register the document.
Problems may be encountered in the mechanism required to move the registration edge into and out of the document path or the sensors actuating the mechanism. Further, in positively driving the document against the registration edge while it is firmly pressed between the transport belt and the platen, the amount of deskewing that can be accomplished may be insufficient due to the frictional engagement between the document and the transport belt. Another type of locating system that has been utilized in the past is disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Patent No. 3,674,363 wherein the passage of the document past a certain point in the document path actuates a switch, which, in conjunction with the time delay, inactivates the document transport mechanism when the document is in the desired position on the platen.
Another method to present documents to the platen of a copy machine would be through the use of mechanical type gripper bars which would be employed to grip the leading edge of a document and thereafter positively transport the document to the proper location on the platen. However, ordinary grippers of necessity include a number of precision mechanical elements adapted for opening and closing the gripper fingers and moving the gripper bars through the desired path.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a sheet handling mechanism for deskewing, registering and transporting individual sheets of material comprising:
-3-1~)43367 a movable endless belt having a plurality of flexible tabs ormed thereon projecting substantially normal to the belt surface, the tabs extending across the belt in a direction perpendicular to the direction of belt travel and being adapted for deformation into a horizontal position overlying the adjacent belt surface;
support means having a surface disposed opposite the belt for cooperation therewith, contact of the tabs with the surface of the support means causing the tabs to deform against the surface of the belt; and sheet supply means for conveying individual sheets of material to the belt, said sheet supply means being adapted to overdrive the individual sheets of material against the ~abs to cause the sheet to be deskewed there-against, movement of the belt relative to the support means causing the tabs to be deformed toward the surface of the belt to positively grip the lead edge of the individual sheets of material between the tab and the belt surface for subsequent transport of the individual sheets of material by the belt across said support means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a document feeding mechanism employing the deskewing, registering, and conveying belt of the present invention;
Figure 2 is an enlarged section of a portion of the belt and platen surface illustrated in Figure 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated an automatic document handler including a document supply tray 2 adapted for receiving a plurality of document~ 4 to be fed to the platen 6 of a copy machine. While the copy machine per se is not illustrated, it should be understood that any suitable copy machine such as that illustrated in the aforementioned U.S.
Patent 3,674,363 could be utilized therewith. The document handler includes a separating roll 8 adapted to remove documents individually from the bottom of the stack of documents 4 and forward individual documents to a take-away roll pair 10 which is adapted to forward the single document to a suitable platen belt 12. The belt 12 preferably comprises a single wide belt adapted to completely overlie the platen 6. The belt 12 is supported for movement on main support rolls 14 and 16, roll 16 being driven by a suitable motor 18 for moving the belt 12 relative to the platen 6. A plurality of bias rollers 20 may be provided to maintain the belt 12 against the platen 6 and thereby assure intimate contact of the document fed therebetween during the exposure or copying operation. Platen belt 12 is provided with a plurality of flexible projections 22 suitably formed thereon, as by molding, for reasons to be hereinafter explained. The document, after the copying operation is completed, is fed out from beneath belt 12 into document catch tray 24. While the document feeder illustrated is a single path document feeder, i.e., the documents are fed from a first tray through the copying operation to an output tray, it should be understood that suitable means could be provided through a second path to return the documents to tray 2 for repetitive recirculation thereof across platen 6.
Considering the operation of the illustrated document handler, upon initiation of the copy cycle, separator roll 8 and take-away roll pair 10 would be actuated to feed a document S from tray 2 to the platen belt 12. The rolls 8 and 10 are adapted to overdrive the document slightly against projections 22 to form a buckle in the document as illustrated in Figure 1.
This provides a positive deskewing action to assure proper alignment of the document on the platen when it is transported thereon by the belt 12. It should be understood that as the buckle is forming in the document, the belt 12 is also moving, albeit at a slightly slower speed than the document. Referring to Figure 2, which illustrates a small section of platen 6 and belt 12, it can be seen that as the belt moves across platen 6, the tab 22 is deformed against the bottom surface of the document S to positively grip the lead edge of the document for movement across the platen 6. Suitable means such as a microswitch 24 is provided to stop motor 18 and the belt 12 driven thereby when the document S carried by the belt is in the proper copying position on the platen.
In the embodiment illustrated, one of the tabs 22 is utilized for contacting the microswitch to inactivate the motor 18 although it should be understood that a variety of position sensors could be substituted therefore such as photosensors acting in conjuction with openings formed along one edge of the belt etc. When the copying cycle is completed the apparatus is again energized to carry the copied document off the platen and present the subsequent document from document tray 12 onto the platen for copying thereof.
While the invention has been described with reference to the structure disclosed, it is not confined to the details set forth, but is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the scope of the following claims.
support means having a surface disposed opposite the belt for cooperation therewith, contact of the tabs with the surface of the support means causing the tabs to deform against the surface of the belt; and sheet supply means for conveying individual sheets of material to the belt, said sheet supply means being adapted to overdrive the individual sheets of material against the ~abs to cause the sheet to be deskewed there-against, movement of the belt relative to the support means causing the tabs to be deformed toward the surface of the belt to positively grip the lead edge of the individual sheets of material between the tab and the belt surface for subsequent transport of the individual sheets of material by the belt across said support means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a document feeding mechanism employing the deskewing, registering, and conveying belt of the present invention;
Figure 2 is an enlarged section of a portion of the belt and platen surface illustrated in Figure 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated an automatic document handler including a document supply tray 2 adapted for receiving a plurality of document~ 4 to be fed to the platen 6 of a copy machine. While the copy machine per se is not illustrated, it should be understood that any suitable copy machine such as that illustrated in the aforementioned U.S.
Patent 3,674,363 could be utilized therewith. The document handler includes a separating roll 8 adapted to remove documents individually from the bottom of the stack of documents 4 and forward individual documents to a take-away roll pair 10 which is adapted to forward the single document to a suitable platen belt 12. The belt 12 preferably comprises a single wide belt adapted to completely overlie the platen 6. The belt 12 is supported for movement on main support rolls 14 and 16, roll 16 being driven by a suitable motor 18 for moving the belt 12 relative to the platen 6. A plurality of bias rollers 20 may be provided to maintain the belt 12 against the platen 6 and thereby assure intimate contact of the document fed therebetween during the exposure or copying operation. Platen belt 12 is provided with a plurality of flexible projections 22 suitably formed thereon, as by molding, for reasons to be hereinafter explained. The document, after the copying operation is completed, is fed out from beneath belt 12 into document catch tray 24. While the document feeder illustrated is a single path document feeder, i.e., the documents are fed from a first tray through the copying operation to an output tray, it should be understood that suitable means could be provided through a second path to return the documents to tray 2 for repetitive recirculation thereof across platen 6.
Considering the operation of the illustrated document handler, upon initiation of the copy cycle, separator roll 8 and take-away roll pair 10 would be actuated to feed a document S from tray 2 to the platen belt 12. The rolls 8 and 10 are adapted to overdrive the document slightly against projections 22 to form a buckle in the document as illustrated in Figure 1.
This provides a positive deskewing action to assure proper alignment of the document on the platen when it is transported thereon by the belt 12. It should be understood that as the buckle is forming in the document, the belt 12 is also moving, albeit at a slightly slower speed than the document. Referring to Figure 2, which illustrates a small section of platen 6 and belt 12, it can be seen that as the belt moves across platen 6, the tab 22 is deformed against the bottom surface of the document S to positively grip the lead edge of the document for movement across the platen 6. Suitable means such as a microswitch 24 is provided to stop motor 18 and the belt 12 driven thereby when the document S carried by the belt is in the proper copying position on the platen.
In the embodiment illustrated, one of the tabs 22 is utilized for contacting the microswitch to inactivate the motor 18 although it should be understood that a variety of position sensors could be substituted therefore such as photosensors acting in conjuction with openings formed along one edge of the belt etc. When the copying cycle is completed the apparatus is again energized to carry the copied document off the platen and present the subsequent document from document tray 12 onto the platen for copying thereof.
While the invention has been described with reference to the structure disclosed, it is not confined to the details set forth, but is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the scope of the following claims.
Claims (4)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A sheet handling mechanism for deskewing, registering and transporting individual sheets of material comprising:
a movable endless belt having a plurality of flexible tabs formed thereon projecting substantially normal to the belt surface, the tabs extending across the belt in a direction perpendicular to the direction of belt travel and being adapted for deformation into a horizontal position overlying the adjacent belt surface;
support means having a surface disposed opposite the belt for cooperation therewith, contact of the tabs with the surface of the support means causing the tabs to deform against the surface of the belt; and sheet supply means for conveying individual sheets of material to the belt, said sheet supply means being adapted to overdrive the individual sheets of material against the tabs to cause the sheet to be deskewed there-against, movement of the belt relative to the support means causing the tabs to be deformed toward the surface of the belt to positively grip the lead edge of the individual sheets of material between the tab and the belt surface for subsequent transport of the individual sheets of material by the belt across said support means.
a movable endless belt having a plurality of flexible tabs formed thereon projecting substantially normal to the belt surface, the tabs extending across the belt in a direction perpendicular to the direction of belt travel and being adapted for deformation into a horizontal position overlying the adjacent belt surface;
support means having a surface disposed opposite the belt for cooperation therewith, contact of the tabs with the surface of the support means causing the tabs to deform against the surface of the belt; and sheet supply means for conveying individual sheets of material to the belt, said sheet supply means being adapted to overdrive the individual sheets of material against the tabs to cause the sheet to be deskewed there-against, movement of the belt relative to the support means causing the tabs to be deformed toward the surface of the belt to positively grip the lead edge of the individual sheets of material between the tab and the belt surface for subsequent transport of the individual sheets of material by the belt across said support means.
2. A sheet handling mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said support means comprises a platen for a copy machine, the sheet handling mechanism further including:
drive means for driving said movable endless belt; and sensing means adapted to sense a predetermined position of said belt for inactivating said drive means to position a sheet carried by said belt at a predetermined position on said platen for copying said sheet.
drive means for driving said movable endless belt; and sensing means adapted to sense a predetermined position of said belt for inactivating said drive means to position a sheet carried by said belt at a predetermined position on said platen for copying said sheet.
3. A sheet handling mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said sensing means comprises a microswitch adapted for actuation by movement of said tabs thereagainst.
4. A sheet handling mechanism according to claim 2 further including a sheet receiving tray, said tray being located downstream from said platen, movement of said belt to move said tabs gripping the sheets out of contact with said platen allowing said tabs to assume a normal orientation relative to the belt surface to release the lead edge of the sheet subsequent movement of said belt carrying the sheet off said platen into said sheet receiving tray.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US527118A US3915447A (en) | 1974-11-25 | 1974-11-25 | Horizontal platen belt transport |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1043367A true CA1043367A (en) | 1978-11-28 |
Family
ID=24100167
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA238,709A Expired CA1043367A (en) | 1974-11-25 | 1975-10-28 | Horizontal platen belt transport |
Country Status (4)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US3915447A (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS607267B2 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1043367A (en) |
| GB (1) | GB1527086A (en) |
Families Citing this family (13)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4062538A (en) * | 1976-01-15 | 1977-12-13 | Xerox Corporation | Speed regulated fluidic sheet transport |
| US4059264A (en) * | 1976-05-03 | 1977-11-22 | Redington, Incorporated | Method of feeding a leaflet and the apparatus therefor |
| JPS55163529A (en) * | 1979-06-05 | 1980-12-19 | Mitsui Eng & Shipbuild Co Ltd | Card arraying device for copying machine |
| US4487407A (en) * | 1979-10-03 | 1984-12-11 | Xerox Corporation | Trail edge copy registration system |
| US4413902A (en) * | 1980-04-09 | 1983-11-08 | Burroughs Corp. | Four-bar interposer mechanism for offset printing |
| GB2184097B (en) * | 1985-12-17 | 1989-10-11 | Xerox Corp | Sheet stackers |
| JPS61188154U (en) * | 1986-04-17 | 1986-11-22 | ||
| US4919409A (en) * | 1986-07-03 | 1990-04-24 | Xerox Corporation | Sheet handling apparatus with narrow belt having raised frictional contact element |
| US4721981A (en) * | 1986-11-03 | 1988-01-26 | Xerox Corporation | Low-cost document feeder for copiers |
| SE462089B (en) * | 1988-09-30 | 1990-05-07 | Sapia Mekatronik Ab | FEEDING DEVICE FOR ARCHIVE OBJECTS, primarily banknotes, with the help of an endless tape made with GRIP organ in the form of flaps |
| US5048817A (en) * | 1989-10-23 | 1991-09-17 | Xerox Corporation | Dynamic edge guide for side registration systems |
| DE4126577A1 (en) * | 1990-10-02 | 1992-04-09 | Agfa Gevaert Ag | Handling system for transparencies - works for prodn. of paper copies in plant with several measurement and/or processing station |
| EP2223878B1 (en) | 2009-02-27 | 2013-11-20 | Neopost Technologies | Conveyor chain and conveyor for gripping and conveying paper material |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE643400C (en) * | 1935-02-03 | 1937-04-06 | Paul Stadie | Pneumatic sheet feeder |
| CH357747A (en) * | 1958-05-02 | 1961-10-31 | Mueller Hans | Feed device for sheets of paper combined to form brochures to a cutting device |
| JPS4892940U (en) * | 1972-02-07 | 1973-11-07 |
-
1974
- 1974-11-25 US US527118A patent/US3915447A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1975
- 1975-10-17 GB GB42676/75A patent/GB1527086A/en not_active Expired
- 1975-10-28 CA CA238,709A patent/CA1043367A/en not_active Expired
- 1975-11-18 JP JP50138645A patent/JPS607267B2/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| US3915447A (en) | 1975-10-28 |
| JPS607267B2 (en) | 1985-02-23 |
| GB1527086A (en) | 1978-10-04 |
| JPS5175449A (en) | 1976-06-30 |
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